


Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

by Happy_Days19



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-10-21 09:51:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20691551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happy_Days19/pseuds/Happy_Days19
Summary: Zoe thought she would be able to ignore all of the distractions at college, but what was with Mallory’s roommate? A college AU with no powers.





	1. Chapter 1

As she dug through her backpack, Zoe Benson was starting to get a little worried. At first, she had assumed that her student ID had just fallen to the bottom of her bag, but as time was passing, the sinking feeling was getting stronger.

“No, no, no,” she muttered, rummaging around a little more.

Having no luck, Zoe gave up and re-zipped her backpack. The thought of wearing her ID around her neck on a lanyard like some other freshmen fleetingly passed through her head, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do that. Plus, she probably still would have forgotten it.

She remembered her RA saying something about it costing a couple of dollars to be let into their rooms when they had locked themselves out, but she didn’t think that applied to someone who had locked themselves out of the building completely. Plus, she couldn’t really ask the RA for help if she couldn’t go knock on the RA’s door.

Zoe shivered and looked around for any people who could be going into or coming out of her dorm. It was a chilly October night, so she really hoped she wouldn’t be out there for long. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like there was anyone around, which was potentially problematic.

Pulling out her phone and sending a quick text to her roommate, Coco, and three other girls she had met during orientation and befriended over the last couple months, Mallory, Queenie, and Nan, Zoe slid down the wall so she was sitting on the ground. She really hoped someone would come along and rescue her soon.

As she waited, Zoe figured that she could at least get some reading for her Comparative Literature class done. She may not have a way to get into the building, but she had plenty of books shoved in her backpack.

After reading a chapter, Zoe shivered and pulled her hoodie a little tighter around her body. She was freezing and tired, not to mention a little mad that no one seemed to care enough to come let her in the building. At least she was going to remember this moment so she wouldn’t forget her ID in the future. Being locked out sucked.

It had been quite a while since she had texted her friends, so she decided to try calling them. Of course, it was just her luck that no one picked up. Why did all of them have to be busy? It was horrible timing.

Zoe slammed her book shut with a huff and looked around again. Her heart filled with a wave of hope as she saw a tiny figure making its way over to the door. She quickly scrambled to her feet, not wanting to miss the chance of getting inside the building.

“Hey! Can you let me in? I thought I was going to freeze out here because I forgot my ID,” Zoe said desperately as the girl got close enough.

“No. It’s not my problem. Figure it out yourself.”

Zoe couldn’t do anything other than stare as the short blonde girl breezed past her. She was so shocked by the girl’s response that she didn’t even manage to catch the door after the girl walked into the building.

She was completely shocked that someone could act like that. Did people actually feel that way? Zoe couldn’t imagine doing that to anyone else. What was the point? It’s not like it would have taken any longer to let Zoe in to the building. What a bitch.

When the door opened from the inside a few minutes later, Zoe was still raging inside her head.

“Hey, do you want to come in? Or would you rather stay out there?”

A relieved smile appeared on Zoe’s face.

“Thanks, Coco,” she replied gratefully. Her roommate had finally come to save the day.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t see your texts or missed call until now. Mallory and I were hanging out and we were totally into the movie we were watching until her roommate came back and started screaming about how it was her room and we couldn’t be in there.”

“Is her roommate short and blonde? And just got back a few minutes ago?”

“Yeah, why?”

“That’s the girl who wouldn’t let me in!”

“Wait, she went into the building, but didn’t let you in? Who would do that?” Coco asked, sounding repulsed by the thought.

“I know, right? Whatever. I’m just going to steer clear from now on. Did she kick Mallory out too? If you guys want to finish watching the movie, you can do it in our room.”

“Are you sure? That would be great!”

Coco had her phone in her hand before she had finished talking, and by the time she and Zoe got back to their room, Mallory was standing there waiting.

“You’re a lifesaver, Zoe. Thank you for letting me hang out here,” Mallory said as Coco unlocked the door.

“No problem. Your roommate seems to be a real handful,” Zoe said, rolling her eyes and dropping her backpack on the floor by her desk.

“Yeah, she wouldn’t let poor Zoe in when she was locked out!”

“The only time she talks to me is when she is yelling about something I did or yelling about how stupid the school is for not letting freshmen live off campus or in single dorms. I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the rest of the year,” Mallory sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“If you ever need a place to crash, our futon is always open. I mean, I definitely couldn’t deal with your roommate all the time.”

“Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the offer. She’s already kicked me out a bunch of times, but I guess that was better than the time she didn’t bother kicking me out. I think I’m still scarred from that experience even though I got out of there as soon as I could.”

All three girls shuddered at the thought.

Zoe left Coco and Mallory to finish whatever they had been watching while she unpacked her backpack. Though she had gotten a bit of her reading done for the next day while she was locked out, she still had some stuff left to do.

She skimmed through one chapter of her book as she scribbled notes that could serve as evidence to back up the main point of her paper. Coco and Mallory were being quiet enough that she should have been able to focus, but Zoe’s thoughts kept returning to Mallory’s roommate and why she wouldn’t let her in earlier.

Maybe Zoe shouldn’t have asked if she could be let in and should have just followed the girl inside, but she hadn’t even imagined that someone would say no. Had Zoe in particular done something to make Mallory’s roommate dislike her, or would it have been the same no matter who had been locked out? Zoe had never talked to her before, so it was hard to imagine that Zoe was the problem.

Since she wasn’t getting anything productive done, Zoe gave up on her homework for the time being and joined Mallory and Coco watching the movie.

Zoe felt very lucky that she had a roommate like Coco. Both Coco and Zoe had been a little quiet for a few days, trying to adjust to college life and living with a stranger, but they had hit it off once the initial awkwardness had passed.

Mallory lived right down the hall from Zoe and Coco, which ended up being very convenient. Both Zoe and Mallory had tested into an advanced class that was filled with mostly sophomores and juniors, so they stuck together in the class and studied together a lot. Because they studied in Zoe’s room a lot and ended up hanging out before or after their study sessions, Coco and Mallory also grew close.

As the end credits rolled, Mallory groaned and stood up.

“I guess I should go back to my room. Hopefully Madison is either gone or in a better mood.”

“Gone? But it’s a Wednesday night!” Zoe couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.

“That doesn’t really matter to Madison. She’s gone almost every night until she stumbles back into the room super late.”

“Wow, I can’t imagine keeping up with all my classes if I acted like her.” Coco shook her head.

“Yeah, I don’t know if she goes to class, but I’ve never seen her open a book.”

“Maybe she’ll fail all her classes and get kicked out and then you won’t have to room with her anymore,” Zoe said, grinning.

“Maybe,” Mallory responded, but Zoe didn’t think she looked very convinced. “Thanks for letting me hang with you guys,” she said, brightening significantly. “Want to grab breakfast before class tomorrow? I know you don’t have an early class tomorrow, but you could come too, Coco.”

Zoe nodded quickly, knowing that it would be easier for her to wake up early if she had breakfast to look forward to.

“I’d love to come too. I have a lot to get done tomorrow, so an early start would be great.”

“Great! See you tomorrow morning!” Mallory smiled as she walked out of Zoe and Coco’s door.

Zoe thanked her lucky stars again that she had found such a great roommate in Coco and great friends in both Coco and Mallory. Even if college could be rough, things were much better with good friends who had her back.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Zoe woke to her alarm blaring. She checked her phone before grabbing her things and heading to the bathroom to get ready.

Sharing a bathroom with a whole hallway of girls was not her idea of fun, and it had taken her quite a while to adjust to her new morning routine. Luckily, she was up early enough that she had the bathroom almost to herself at least two mornings a week.

Once she had gotten ready, she quickly grabbed her backpack. Although she had a long break between her first and second class of the day, she had still packed up her things she needed for the entire day. She was planning on spending her free time in the library and didn’t want to have to go back to her room.

“Ready?” she asked Coco, who was sitting on the edge of her bed, yawning.

“Yes! Let’s go find Mal.”

Zoe was glad they had agreed to go to breakfast before the first class of the day since she really needed a something to put her in a good mood before a long day of studying. She was also lucky that Mallory was in her first class, as a friend could make all the difference in the world in a class.

She wished that she had friends in every class, but so far, she only had one class with Mallory and one class with Nan. There was one other class that she had found people to work with on projects, but she didn’t know anyone in her other class.

When they opened their door, Zoe and Coco saw that Mallory was waiting for them right outside.

“Good morning!” Mallory greeted.

“Morning!” Coco replied with a big smile.

It wasn’t that Zoe wasn’t excited to be with her friends, but it was just a little too early for her to be that outgoing. She greeted Mallory with a smile, locking the door behind her before they made their way down the hallway.

Mallory and Coco chatted away as they made their way to the cafeteria, with Zoe adding a comment here and there.

The girls separated briefly after getting to the cafeteria, but quickly regrouped once they all had their food.

“So, what are you doing after classes today?” Coco asked both of them.

“I have a big test tomorrow, so I’ll be studying all day,” Zoe said, frowning.

“Mm, not much. All my big stuff was yesterday, so I just have a couple of small things to do for tomorrow. You?”

“I have a paper I need to finish for tomorrow, but it’s almost done.”

“At least I shouldn’t have a lot going on this weekend, so maybe we can do something fun. We could even ask Queenie and Nan!” Zoe said, trying to find something to look forward to. She really needed to get her test tomorrow done with, since she didn’t foresee anything fun in her future until then.

“That would be awesome! What should we do?”

“Let’s watch Halloween movies!” Coco exclaimed, looking pleased with her suggestion.

“Halloween movies?” Zoe asked skeptically. She actually really liked that idea, but it was surprising to her that Coco had suggested it, as Coco seemed to be a bit of a scaredy cat sometimes.

“Yeah, Halloween movies are fun,” Coco defended, pouting.

“I’m in,” Mallory said after taking a bite of her muffin.

Zoe appraised her friends before adding her opinion.

“It sounds fun, but I don’t want to have to stop halfway through if someone gets scared or be kept awake that night if you have nightmares.”

“We won’t, I promise!” Coco swore. “Right, Mal?”

Zoe didn’t think Mallory looked completely convinced, but the other girl shoved another bite of food in her mouth and nodded along.

“Okay, okay. I love that idea,” Zoe smiled, digging into her breakfast.

The topic turned to which Halloween movies to watch, and all too soon, Zoe looked at her watch and groaned. It definitely didn’t seem like they had been at breakfast that long, but it was already time for her and Mallory to leave for their first class.

After quickly finishing up the last few bits of her cereal, Zoe grabbed her dishes.

“Ready?”

“Yes!” Mallory replied, getting up to follow Zoe.

“I wish I had your enthusiasm,” Zoe grumbled, wondering how Mallory could be so eager to get to class.

Don’t get her wrong, Zoe loved college. She loved learning all sorts of new things and being in an amazing environment. The problem was that some of her classes dragged on and felt as if they were all busy work. She couldn’t wait to get into her major-specific classes.

Once they had arrived in their classroom, Zoe sat down next to Mallory and pulled out her notebook. She scribbled notes down quickly, trying to keep up with the fast pace of the professor. She wasn’t really sure why she even bothered, as all of the information was in the textbook, but she needed to do something to keep her mind from wandering.

Zoe slipped her notebook into her backpack once the professor finally dismissed the class.

“Are you going to the library?” Mallory asked.

“Yeah. I want to try to get as much studying done today as possible, and as much as I love rooming with Coco, it can be kind of distracting to study in the room.”

Mallory nodded knowingly.

“See you later?” Zoe offered.

“Yep! Good luck studying. Let me know if you need someone to quiz you.”

Zoe thanked Mallory before making her way to the library. She settled into a corner that was pretty out of the way, spreading out all of her books around her.

Losing herself in her study materials, Zoe jolted when the alarm she had set for herself went off. Again, it didn’t seem like that much time had passed, but she carefully put all of her things back the way she had had them.

Her head was still swimming with all of the information she was trying to absorb as she walked into her next class. She walked to her seat, only to stop in her tracks when she saw someone sitting in her spot.

“Hey, that’s my seat!” slipped out of Zoe’s mouth before it even registered that she was saying anything.

“I don’t see your name on it,” came the snappy, sarcastic response.

Of course, it had to be Mallory’s roommate that was sitting in her spot. The very same one who wouldn’t let Zoe into the dorm when she was locked out and who often kicked Mallory out of her own room.

“I mean… It’s just… I’ve been sitting there for weeks!” Zoe spluttered, trying to regain some composure.

“Too bad. Go sit somewhere else,” Madison responded, carelessly waving her hand as if to dismiss Zoe.

“Are you even in this class? I’ve never seen you here before.”

“Like it’s any of your business?”

Before Zoe had time to formulate a response, the professor cleared her throat and started talking.

She didn’t want to get in trouble for not being ready for class to start, so she slid into the seat next to Madison.

Zoe dug her pencil and notebook out of her bag and started diligently taking notes as she always did during class.

“Can I borrow a pen? I forgot mine,” Madison’s voice interrupted Zoe’s concentration.

Zoe eyed Madison’s set-up for class, rolling her eyes when she saw that the girl didn’t have anything out on the table. She wondered what Madison would be taking notes on, as Madison didn’t have any paper out, but she honestly didn’t care enough to ask.

“Here,” she whispered, handing Madison one of her spare pens.

“Although great strides have been made concerning the equality of men and women, it has taken many generations, and many people still don’t believe that enough has been done,” the professor stated.

Madison scoffed softly, and Zoe tried her best to ignore her.

“Like a man could ever be better than all of this,” Madison whispered, motioning to her body.

Not that she’d ever admit it, but Zoe couldn’t deny that she felt… something when Madison said that.

As the lecture continued, Madison kept making snide remarks. Zoe was generally useless when it came to flirting, but it definitely seemed like the comments Madison was making were toeing the line between banter and flirting. The thing she couldn’t figure out was why Madison would be flirting with her.

Zoe was pretty sure that Madison didn’t know who she was, even if she was really good friends with her roommate. The only explanation she could think of was that Madison flirted with anything that was breathing. That had to be it.

She continued taking notes the rest of class, but her mind was a little distracted with Madison’s antics throughout the rest of the class. Once the lecture was finally over, Zoe quickly shoved her things in her backpack. Moving to get out of her seat, she found her way blocked by Madison.

“Do you mind?”

“Just a little bit. The sound of your note taking was pretty annoying,” Madison answered, but moved away after giving Zoe another once-over. “Thanks for the pen!” she called over her shoulder.

Zoe couldn’t do anything except stand still and blink until her brain started working again. She was so dumbfounded by Madison’s behavior that she ended up trying to figure it out the entire time she spent walking to the library. She mostly managed to get it out of her head in order to finish the things she needed to get done, but she’d be lying if she said that her mind didn’t slip back to the bizarre encounter a few times.

Wondering if Madison would show up for that class the next time, Zoe packed up her things and headed to her second class of the day, hoping she would be able to focus without any more distractions.


	3. Chapter 3

Zoe knew it was probably a bad idea to be baking in the middle of the night, but here she was. She had promised to bring cookies to the Halloween party their hall was having the next day, which was actually today at this point. Schoolwork came first, so she needed to finish an essay before she started doing fun things like baking, and it had been much later than she had hoped by the time she finished everything.

By the time Zoe had finished mixing up the dough, she was completely exhausted. She worked quickly to roll out the dough and started cutting out Halloween shapes. Why had she volunteered to bring cookies? She was really regretting her decision.

While the first pan was in the oven, Zoe busied herself with trying to get as many more pumpkins, witch hats, bats, cats, and ghosts cut out as she could. It was a tedious process, but she wanted to be done soon so she could go to bed.

Luckily, the process was going very smoothly, and she had managed to bake and decorate almost all the cookies. She was very glad, as that meant she would be able to go to bed soon. She packed all the cookies away before she put the last cookies on the pan to go in the oven, labeling the finished ones and putting them in the communal refrigerator so they would be all ready for the party.

Since she was baking in the dorm kitchen, she was trying to be quiet. Unfortunately, baking cookies wasn’t exactly the quietest activity, so there had been a couple of loud clangs she couldn’t help. While she was taking the last pan out of the oven, she accidentally touched the pan with a part of her hand that wasn’t covered by the potholder. The pan dropped with a loud crash, but she was too busy rushing to the sink to run her hand under cold water to care.

“What the hell are you doing in the kitchen at 3 AM?”

Zoe whirled around when she heard the angry-sounding voice cut through the kitchen. She was prepared to face an angry RA, but when she saw Madison, she sighed in relief. It wasn’t that she liked Madison, but that meant that she wasn’t going to get in trouble for being too loud.

“Baking cookies for the party tomorrow? Or I guess it’s tonight?”

“Is that a question? Because you don’t sound very sure.”

As Madison moved closer, Zoe backed away. The look in Madison’s eyes was making her nervous, and honestly, she just didn’t want to deal with Madison’s teasing.

“I’m sure. Why do you care, anyway?”

“Well, someone is making a lot of noise. That isn’t even going to be a real party. Why don’t you forget the cookies, skip that lame ass party, and come to a real party with me?”

“What? Why me?”

“Given the choices around here, you’re the best option. Except, do you own any clothes that don’t come from the GAP?”

“Not really.”

“Hmm, you can borrow something of mine.”

“You don’t even like me! You wouldn’t let me in the dorm when I was locked out, you always kick Mallory out of the room, and you keep sitting in my seat and distracting me in class.”

“Maybe this is me giving you a chance. Besides, I’m completely drunk. You can’t hold me accountable for my actions.”

Before Zoe had a chance to respond, she smelled smoke. The tray of cookies she had dropped had apparently fallen back into the oven and were burning to a crisp.

“Oh, no!”

Zoe rushed over to the oven and tried to pull the burning cookies out, but it was too late. The cookies had burned to the point where they were stuck to the oven. To make matters worse, the fire alarm started blaring.

Madison threw her head back and started laughing.

“Come to the frat party with me tonight instead of the lame party here or I’ll tell everyone who set off the fire alarm in the middle of the night,” she threatened before walking off with a smirk.

Although she didn’t want to go to a party with Madison, especially if it meant she had to miss the hallway Halloween party, but she also really didn’t want everyone to know that she had set off the fire alarm. Since she had already packed almost everything away, Zoe hurriedly cleaned up what she could before rushing out of the kitchen to join the mass of students migrating outside.

As she looked around, it didn’t look like anyone was paying her any special attention, but she saw a lot of grumbling people wearing their pajamas. Queenie and Nan were standing a good distance away from the building, and Zoe walked over to them quickly.

“Hi, guys.”

“Hey, girl,” Queenie greeted, looking pretty ticked off.

“Hi, Zoe,” Nan chimed in.

“Do you know which bitch set off the fire alarm?” Queenie asked, but before anyone could say anything, Mallory and Coco ran over.

“Zoe! I was kind of worried when you weren’t in the room!” Coco exclaimed, grabbing Zoe’s hand.

“Yeah, where were you? You’re always in your room at this time, unlike Madison. By the way, I passed Madison on the way out here. It’s just like her to ignore the fire alarm. Do you think she had anything to do with it?” Mallory asked, whispering conspiratorially.

Zoe tried hard to keep a straight face, but she felt so guilty. She could feel the blush spreading to her face, especially when she saw Nan looking at her closely.

“I…”

“Zoe did it,” Nan stated.

“What?” Zoe squeaked, but honestly, she wasn’t surprised that Nan knew. Nan seemed to know everything, especially when Zoe was trying to hide something. That girl was way too good at reading body language.

“Zoe?!” Mallory and Coco said in unison, turning to face her quickly.

“Girl…” Queenie trailed off.

“I didn’t mean to do it! Keep your voices down!”

Zoe looked around and was glad to see that no one around them seemed to notice what they were talking about. She really did feel bad about what had happened, but she did not want to get in trouble.

“What happened?”

“I burned my hand and accidentally dropped the cookies in the oven.”

“And they burst into flames right away?” Queenie asked.

“I might have gotten distracted,” Zoe mumbled.

“By what? There’s not usually much around at three in the morning,” Mallory asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Was it a ghost?” Coco asked in a hushed voice.

“No, it wasn’t a ghost,” Zoe snapped, feeling bad when she saw Coco’s face fall.

Nan looked at Zoe like she knew something no one else knew, but she didn’t say anything. Zoe didn’t want everyone to know the real reason she hadn’t been able to get the dropped cookies out of the oven on time was that she had been all flustered by Mallory’s roommate. Madison wasn’t nice to anyone, and even if she had asked Zoe to go to a party with her, that changed nothing.

“I just made a mistake, okay? It was all my fault. Can we please move on?”

“How much longer are we gonna have to stand out here? I need my sleep,” Queenie grumbled. Zoe felt a surge of appreciation for Queenie for changing the subject.

“I don’t know, but I hope it doesn’t take long. I need to make sure Madison didn’t destroy our room while we were out here.”

“I think it will be soon,” Nan said, looking over at the RAs talking to the people emerging from the building.

A cheer rose from the crowd as the RAs started waving people back into the building.

“Finally,” Zoe breathed as everyone made their way back inside.

“Now we can both get some sleep!” Coco said happily, turning down their hall.

“See you tomorrow,” Nan said as she and Queenie disappeared into their room.

“Good night! Or morning, I guess,” Mallory chuckled.

“Sorry I interrupted your sleep. Have a good night,” Zoe apologized quietly before she and Coco entered their room.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Coco said once both she and Zoe had settled into bed. “It’s not like you did it on purpose. Get some sleep.”

Coco yawned before turning over in bed. Zoe closed her eyes and tried to forget about the whole fiasco, but for some reason, Madison kept running through her head. It wasn’t the first time that had happened, but it was much different.

The first time Zoe couldn’t sleep because of Madison, she had been so mad because Madison wouldn’t let her in the building when she was locked out. Now, she was feeling something… different. It wasn’t exactly a positive thought, but she wasn’t as mad at Madison anymore. What was happening?

After the incident in class where Madison seemed to be flirting with her the whole time, Zoe was unsure of how Madison actually felt about her. What was she supposed to think of Madison’s behavior? She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about all of Madison’s comments for a while after they had happened, and now there was even more to think about.

Taking a deep breath, Zoe willed all thoughts out of her mind. She needed to be up early for class, and it wasn’t going to be a pleasant time for anyone if she was completely sleep deprived. Eventually, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of cookies burning, fire alarms, and going to parties with a familiar blonde.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains underage drinking

Zoe didn’t know why she was doing this. If she were to stop and think about it, she knew that she would probably end up running out the door and back into the comfort of her bed. As it was, she was trying very hard to not over-think the situation she had found herself in.

Tugging on the hem of her dress as if that would make it any longer, Zoe glanced around nervously. Why had she agreed to this again? Oh yeah, she hadn’t really. She hadn’t expected Madison to remember their conversation from the night before, much less actually show up at her door, throw a dress at her and demand her to change. She had barely had time to yell over her shoulder that all the cookies for the dorm party were in the kitchen refrigerator before Madison had dragged her out of the room.

Now that she was at the party, she wasn’t sure why she hadn’t put her foot down and said no. She should have expected that Madison would have ditched her right away, but that didn’t mean that it hurt any less. She looked around, but she couldn’t see anyone that she knew.

As she was seriously considering leaving the party and going back to her friends, where she knew she would be having fun, Zoe jumped as someone came up behind her.

“You really need to loosen up,” Madison said, handing her a cup. “You look like someone is dragging you through hot coals.”

“Madison! I thought you were gone!”

“Mm, thought about it, but I wanted to see what you are like when you finally let loose and have a little fun,” Madison said, taking a long sip from her cup.

Zoe tried to hide her slight blush by taking a sip from her own cup, her eyes finding Madison over the rim. She still wasn’t completely sold on the idea of being at a party with Madison, but there was something about Madison that she couldn’t stop thinking about.

Before she could think too much about what Madison had said, Zoe downed the rest of her cup.

“Thirsty?” Madison asked, sounding surprised.

“I thought you wanted to see me let loose.”

“Oh, I do. I just thought it would take more persuasion. Let’s find you another drink.”

Zoe tried to protest as Madison led her through the crowd, but her words were ignored. She didn’t want to get completely drunk, especially if she was still trying to figure out the enigma that was Madison.

On their way to the drinks, multiple people tried to stop Madison to talk, but she swept past all of them, grabbing Zoe’s hand to pull her along Zoe stumbled slightly.

Before she knew it, Zoe and Madison both had fresh drinks in their hands.

“For you being Mallory’s roommate, you’d think we would see you around more,” Zoe said, glancing sideways at Madison.

“What, that over-enthusiastic overachiever? You know her or something?”

“We’re friends! She’s a really good person.”

“Friends are overrated, and good people don’t exist,” Madison scoffed.

“What if… what if we were friends?” Zoe asked hesitantly.

“Why?”

“Well, everyone needs a friend.”

“I don’t.”

Before Zoe could press the issue any further, she caught a glimpse of Kyle.

Kyle was the first guy she had met at college, and though she liked him well enough, there was just no spark. Unfortunately for her, he didn’t seem to feel the same way. Every time they saw each other, Kyle kept trying to ask her out. As many times as she had politely declined him, he just didn’t seem to get the hint.

Zoe ducked her head, trying to hide behind Madison.

“What are you doing?” Madison asked, staring at Zoe.

“Well, there’s this guy…” Zoe trailed off as Kyle looked over at her. His face lit up as his eyes landed on Zoe. “Oh no, what do I do?” Zoe asked, panicking.

“What, that zombie? You could do much better,” Madison said, smirking as she appraised Kyle.

“No, I don’t want him! That’s the point!” Zoe exclaimed, trying to shrink down more behind Madison.

“What, did he do something to you?” Madison asked, her face darkening instantly.

“No, no. He’s just not my type.”

“Well, hiding isn’t the way to show him that.”

With that, just as Kyle looked over, Madison pulled Zoe closer to her and kissed her firmly.

Zoe literally felt her brain shut off when Madison’s lips touched hers. She stayed completely still and let Madison go on kissing her until Madison pulled away. Zoe stared at Madison for a few seconds before looking around. Lucky for her, Kyle was nowhere to be seen.

“There you go. He shouldn’t be a problem anymore,” Madison breathed, finishing her drink in one big swallow.

Zoe blinked a few times. What had just happened?

“Do you want another?” Madison asked, grabbing both of their cups and disappearing.

If nothing else, this gave Zoe’s brain a moment to restart. She touched her lips gently, trying to figure out if she was drunk. That was the only explanation, right? She was drunk and imagining things.

By the time Madison returned, Zoe had mostly managed to pull herself together. Zoe studied Madison’s face, but it betrayed nothing. Zoe thanked Madison as she took the offered drink, hand brushing against Madison’s.

“So, did anyone figure out that you were the one to set off the fire alarm?” Madison asked, pulling away quickly.

“Um, yeah. Apparently, my friends know me too well,” Zoe said, trying to play it off with a laugh.

Zoe still felt really bad about what had transpired, but she supposed that it could have happened to anyone. It wasn’t the first time the fire alarm had gone off, and she figured it wouldn’t be the last. Besides, it was partially Madison’s fault, since she had been the one to distract her.

“Well, I guess your secret is safe with me for now.”

“Thanks,” Zoe said, blushing for some reason. The alcohol seemed to be going to her head quickly now.

“This party is getting boring,” Madison announced suddenly. “Want to get out of here?”

Get out of here? What did that mean, exactly? Did she just mean leave the party, or did she want to take Zoe back to her room? Zoe must have looked torn, as Madison quickly clarified.

“It’s a pretty nice night, and it shouldn’t take long to walk back to the dorm. Maybe you can even make it to part of the lame dorm party.”

“Only if you come to the lame dorm party too,” Zoe said, slightly making fun of the disdainful way Madison talked about the dorm party. Madison scoffed but didn’t shoot Zoe down.

“You know, the dorm really isn’t that bad,” Zoe said, scrambling to follow Madison’s quick move toward the exit.

“Oh, really?” Madison drawled.

“Yeah, really. And the people are really nice.”

“Nice doesn’t matter for anything.”

“Yes, it does!” Zoe exclaimed as they walked across the deserted campus.

“Nobody is just nice. Everyone wants something,” Madison said, scowling at Zoe.

“So what do you want?”

“What do you mean?”

“Earlier, when you… kissed me. You were being nice and helping me. What did you want from that?”

Madison stopped and turned toward Zoe.

“Maybe I just wanted to kiss you.”

Zoe swallowed hard. Her head was way too fuzzy to make sense of all this.

“Well, maybe I want to kiss you again,” she said, unconsciously looking down at Madison’s lips.

“Then do it,” Madison dared, stepping closer to Zoe. She was so close that Zoe could feel her breath puffing on her lips, could smell the alcohol.

Zoe stepped forward, closing the small gap between them and pressing her lips firmly against Madison’s. She lost herself in the kiss, closing her eyes and leaning in. All too soon, her brain started working again, and she panicked. What was she doing? She broke the kiss and stepped back.

“I-I’m sorry,” Zoe stammered.

“Why?” Madison asked, catching Zoe’s wrist. “I told you to do it. If I didn’t want it, I would have stopped you.”

“Right,” Zoe replied, staring down at her wrist in Madison’s hand.

As if she was just realizing what she was doing, Madison quickly let go of Zoe. Her cheeks darkened slightly, and she stepped away.

“Whatever. Was that enough of an experiment for you?” Madison asked cruelly.

Now it was Zoe’s turn to step back. She stepped back as if Madison had slapped her.

“Madison,” she whispered, hurt. “That’s not what that was.”

“Then what was it?”

“I don’t really know how to do this. Any of it. My last boyfriend just stopped talking to me one day. It was like he died and dropped off the face of the planet. I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re worried about hurting me?” Madison asked disbelievingly, staring deep into Zoe’s eyes.

“Well, yeah. I care about you.”

Zoe was able to register the surprised look on Madison’s face before Madison’s lips crashed into hers once again. This kiss felt different, though. It was frantic and needy, as if Madison was trying to communicate everything she was feeling through the kiss. After what felt like an eternity, they broke apart.

“Do you still want to go to that lame party?” Madison asked, breaking the silence.

“I bet Mallory and Coco are at the party.”

“Why would I care what the losers are doing?”

“If they’re at the party, then our rooms are empty,” Zoe said, grabbing Madison’s hand and starting to drag her back to the dorm.

Zoe could tell when Madison’s brain registered what she was saying, as Madison picked up the pace significantly, almost starting to drag her along instead. She laughed lightly, but let Madison lead her back. This wasn’t at all how she had imagined her night going, but she couldn’t complain.


	5. Chapter 5

“This is gross.”

“No, this is fun,” Zoe said, glaring slightly at Madison.

“What about pumpkin guts is fun, exactly?” Madison asked, poking at the inside of the pumpkin with a spoon.

“Madison, it’s not about the pumpkin guts,” Zoe sighed. “It’s about the process of carving the pumpkin.”

“Plus, the seeds taste good if you prepare them right!” Mallory chimed in.

“Do you always have to be this happy?” Madison asked.

“Ignore her, Mallory,” Zoe said, starting to scoop out all of the insides of the pumpkin.

Zoe, Madison, Mallory and Coco had gathered to carve pumpkins for the dorm contest, much to Madison’s chagrin. They were working in pairs, and the other three were quite excited about the prospect, and it showed. Mallory and Coco had an entire elaborate design printed out, as well as a load of glitter. Zoe didn’t have anything printed out, but she had a basic idea of what she wanted their jack-o-lantern to look like.

“It’s fun! Don’t you remember how you used to do this as a kid?” Coco asked, pinning the paper with their design to the front of the pumpkin.

“I never did this as a kid,” Madison said, face darkening slightly.

Madison didn’t talk much about her childhood, but Zoe gathered that it hadn’t been pleasant. She hadn’t ever heard Madison talk about going home or call her parents, and the few things she had mentioned hadn’t sounded like they were good at all.

“Good thing we’re doing it now, then. And we can get apple cider after!” Zoe said, trying to get Madison’s mind to a happier place.

“What is it with you and all this fall stuff?” Madison grumbled under her breath, but she grabbed the carving tool and stabbed it in the pumpkin once Zoe had finished scooping out all the seeds.

Zoe, Mallory, and Coco shared a smile, glad that Madison was actually participating. Madison started carving out a shape, and though it wasn’t anything close to what Zoe had planned, she would make it work. Once Madison had finished one eye, Mallory caught Zoe’s eye and raised her eyebrow, clearly wondering exactly what their finished product would look like. Zoe just shrugged, knowing that she cared more about having fun than the end result.

“Is that an eye?” Coco asked innocently, having missed the shared look between Zoe and Mallory.

“Of course it is,” Madison snapped. “Do you want a matching one?” she asked, holding up the carving tool.

Coco backed behind Mallory slowly, looking to the others for backup. Zoe felt bad, as she knew Coco was just trying to be nice by talking to Madison. Mallory gave Coco’s hand a squeeze and gave Madison a patient look.

“It’s a beautiful eye, Madison,” Mallory said. “That’s all Coco meant, right?”

“Right!” Coco answered quickly.

Madison glared but turned back to the pumpkin and started carving the other eye. It didn’t quite match, but Zoe didn’t care. Even if they didn’t win, she was getting to spend time with her friends. After the night of the party, Zoe and Madison had become something more than friends. They hadn’t really discussed what they were, but both of them knew that it was significant.

Madison had stopped disappearing most nights, instead spending the time with Zoe. They sometimes spent the time with Zoe’s other friends, but they usually spent the time alone. Zoe didn’t know where they went from here, but for the time being, she was content just being with Madison. It was a newer experience for her, but she figured that it was good to try new things at college. She and Madison were exploring the territory together and exploring each other together.

“Here. Do you want to do the mouth?” Madison asked, holding out the knife to Zoe.

“Sure,” she said, taking the tool.

“I know it won’t be as good as mine, but just try to make it good,” Madison smirked.

Mallory made a choking noise at the same time Coco dropped the container of glitter she had been holding, causing a cloud of glitter to rise up. All four of them managed to get at least a little bit of glitter on them. Zoe giggled at the expression on Madison’s face.

“What?” Mallory asked. “It’s just glitter. It’ll come off.”

“No, it won’t,” Coco added quietly. “Glitter stays forever!”

“Whatever,” Madison growled, trying unsuccessfully to brush off all the glitter.

“You look cute, though,” Zoe said quietly, pulling Madison closer.

“Whatever,” Madison repeated, but closed the distance and gave Zoe a quick peck on the lips.

Mallory gave a quiet “aww”, while Coco scrunched up her nose, but neither of them interrupted the pair. At this point, Zoe and Madison’s pumpkin was quite far behind Mallory and Coco’s. Mallory and Coco quietly returned to work, carving out some of the more intricate details of their jack-o-lantern before Zoe and Madison broke apart.

Zoe studied their jack-o-lantern progress once she managed to tear herself away from the glitter-covered Madison. They had a lot of work to do, but Zoe wasn’t sure that it was salvageable to be a traditional jack-o-lantern. Maybe they could make it into a monster jack-o-lantern?

“You’re thinking too hard,” Madison said.

“What do you think about making this into a monster carving?”

“Like Frankenstein?”

“Like Frankenstein’s monster,” Zoe said, smiling.

“Nerd,” Madison said, smiling right back at Zoe.

Taking that as an okay, Zoe started carving out what she considered to be a monster-like mouth. She saw Madison watching her but didn’t stop what she was doing. As she glanced over at Mallory and Coco, she saw that they had almost finished with their carving.

“What?” Mallory asked when she saw Zoe looking.

“It’s looking good!”

“Thanks!” Coco said.

“If you paid a little more attention to your pumpkin, I bet you’d be almost done now too,” Mallory added, smirking.

“We’re having more fun,” Madison said.

Zoe chose not to say anything, instead focusing on the carving. She finished the mouth before handing the knife back to Madison.

“Want to do the nose?”

“Sure,” Madison said, stabbing the knife firmly into the pumpkin.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Coco said, looking concernedly at Madison.

“You’re on thin ice,” Madison said, giving Coco a look.

“She’s just kidding, right, Madison?” Mallory said, digging her elbow into Madison’s side.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Mallory and Coco finally finished carving their jack-o-lantern, sprinkling the rest of the glitter on the pumpkin for a finishing touch. Zoe studied theirs, comparing the two pumpkins. Compared to their friends’ pumpkin, theirs had no chance of winning. Forget looking like Frankenstein’s monster, theirs looked like Frankenstein’s monster had gotten drunk and tried to carve it. Oh, well. Zoe had had fun throughout the process, and Madison had done something she hadn’t done before, which made it all worth it.

“All done. What do you think?” Madison asked, looking over at Zoe.

“It looks… done,” Zoe said, trying not to laugh.

Coco wasn’t so successful in holding back her laugh, letting out a small snort of laughter.

“Do you have something to say?” Madison asked, whirling around to face her.

“No! It looks… it looks like,” Coco floundered, trying not to piss Madison off.

“It looks like the perfect monster jack-o-lantern,” Mallory said diplomatically, smiling at Madison.

Madison studied her for a moment before apparently deciding that she believed her. Zoe stuck an electric candle in the jack-o-lantern and popped the top of the pumpkin back on. It wasn’t perfect, but Zoe was proud of the effort. Madison had actually stuck through the entire activity, and it had been a fun day.

“Wow, yours looks amazing!” Zoe said, looking at Coco and Mallory’s jack-o-lantern.

They had carved a beautiful flower and nature themed pattern, and it looked incredible. Mallory seemed to have some sort of magic with her pumpkin carving, as she was the one who had carved the majority of the pattern. Zoe thought that they actually had a good chance of winning the contest, even if she and Madison had literally no chance.

“Thank you!” Mallory beamed. “Coco picked out the pattern.”

“Yeah, but you did almost all the carving,” Coco said.

“You both did a great job.”

“Yeah, I can actually tell what it’s supposed to be,” Madison added.

“Thanks, Madison!”

The group carried their finished jack-o-lanterns to the contest entry spot and deposited them in the spots by their names. There weren’t too many out yet, but the ones that were there ranged from just as bad as Madison and Zoe’s to almost as artistic as Mallory and Coco’s. It would be a good contest, though Zoe was still hoping that their friends would win.

“Do you want to get that apple cider now?” Zoe asked, looking back at the other three.

“Hmm, I think I want something a little sweeter,” Madison said, walking up close to Zoe.

“We’re going to go get some cider,” Coco said quickly, clearly taking the hint of what Madison was saying and wanting no part of it. “We’ll hang out in Mallory’s room.”

Zoe grabbed Madison’s wrist and gently pulled her toward the room, glad that they would have some privacy. As soon as they made it inside the room, Madison firmly pressed Zoe up against the door, kissing her and leaving her breathless. Maybe they needed to talk about what exactly they were, but that could wait for another time. For now, Zoe just wanted to keep getting to know her and keep kissing her.

“Is this sweet enough for you?” Zoe gasped as Madison kissed her neck.

“We’re getting there,” Madison said, smiling mischievously at Zoe.

Who cares if they were going to lose the contest? Zoe had won something much better, and she was quite content with that.


End file.
